Panel fastening for doors and window sashes



"SQ 5530,1952 A. J. KIEFER 2,612,244

PANEL FASTENING FOR DOORS AND WINDOW SAS HES Filed July 20, 1950 /0 a /7 9 2/ I I .3 u u u I N /Z /a I INVENTOR.

(0. \i BY AJK/eFer v fwmw 1 K -1W Patented Sept. 30, 1952 .UNIIED STATES PATENT FFI-CE 2,612,244 T I i PANEL FASTENING FOR DOORS I AND Augustine John Kicfer, Pittsburgh, Pa. v Application July-20, 1950, Serial No. 174,925

This invention relates to novel means for detachably, retaining: in position in the open space of a door or window sash either a solidpanel, such for instance as apane of glassor other, closure for use in cold weather, or'apanel permitting the passage of airin warm weather. suchas ascreen or-a guard, or'both a screen and a guard.

For this-purpose I provide such an open space in the door or sash with margin-a1 members, such as stilesand rails, :eachof which is provided with a longitudinal groove formedon itsouter surface and along its edge bordering the, open space. the sidewalls of which groove, diverge toward the bottom of the' latter. Thev outer wallsofeach groove are integrally! provided with a shelf extending: inwardlyof .the open space, which. shelves are positionedibelow the'tcp edge of the outer wall of the groove a distance suflicient to receive and support the closure with the-face or top surface of the latter in the plane of the outer surface of 2 Claims. (01. 189-48) the marginal members. The frame, comprising the stiles and rails. is removably mounted in the space in the door or sash in any convenient manner.

To detachably hold the panel in its position I v provide a spline of spring metal, such as tempered aluminum, in sheet form, which is sprung into thegroove, said metal being cut into a narrow strip which isbent l-aterallyto form a depending looped shaped body, the sides of which frictionally engage the sides of thegroove and the inner edge of which frictionally engages the inner side Wall ofthe groove to preventaccidental loosening of the spline from the groove; Z

The opposite or outer side-i'ofthe looped .body extends upabove the top of the'outer wall of the groove and is bent outwardly to form a' skirt which overlies the shelf extendingfrom the'outer Wall of the groove but is spaced from said shelf a distance equal to the thickness of the glasspane or other closure, thus locking the closure panel or panels in position, and to the marginal membars.

The outer free edge of the skirt of the spline is preferably provided with an inturned edge which grips the closure panel and holds it tightly in position in the frame formed by the marginal members.

When warm weather approaches the marginal frame, formed by the stiles and rails, in which is mounted the glass or other closure, is removed from the door or sash, and a second frame in which the screen or guard and screen are mounted is substituted in its place. In the fall the substituted frame is removed and the first mentioned frame is substituted.

In the accompanying drawings, which are intended to present a practical embodiment of the principles of my present invention,

Fig. 1 is a disassembled perspective of a portion of a rail element of'theframeof'the opening; and alsoof the spline used therewith;

- Fig; 2-is a cross-sectional view of the stileassembled with the spline and employed to detachably-mou'nta glass panel orother closure in-place; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing a guard and a screen held in place on the-rail by-the spline, and "Fig- 4 Ba fragmental view showlng'one of the stiles'and one of" the bottom rails towhichjis shown attached a glass panel'by meansofmyimproved splines.

Referring to the drawings, I0 indicates one of the rails of the marginal'frame, whichframe defines the opening inthe door or sas'h, an d H in Fig. 4 indicatesthe bottom rail of the same. Both the stiles and the rails are preferably die-cast of a light non-corrosive metal suchas aluminum and are hollow, as indicated at [2: Along the inner edges of each of the stiles and-railsthere is provided a groove I3, the inner wall [4 01" which, adjacent the body of the stile or railgdiverges downwardly of the groove Iii-toward the stile or rail, while the outerwall 1-5 of the'groove maybe vertical. v v The fre top edge of the outer wall IJ'of the groove 13 is below the plane of the top or outer surfaces of the stiles and rails for a distance equal to the gaugeof the metal of which the spline, later to be described, is formed. The-numeral l6 indicates a flat relatively narrow shelf integrally extending from the outer wall l5 of the groove I 3. The shelf 16' isset downwardly from thetop freeedge of the wall l5 adistance sufiicient to receivethe closure panel, such as glass, orscreen, or a screen and guard-with its outer facein substantially the same plane-as th .top. edge of the wall I5 of'the groove. The spline 1.1 is'formedby bendingup a sheet or. plate of resilient metal, such as tempered aluminum, to form a longitudinal curved body loop l8, one edge of which is bent upwardly to frictionally engage the outer wall [5 of the groove and thus prevent accidental outward movement of the spline relative to the groove. The opposite Wall of the loop of the spline extends upwardly in contact with the inner wall M of the groove to the level of the upper face of the stile II] as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and said wall of the spline is bent outwardly to form a flat skirt l 9 which extends at a right angle outwardly over the top edge of the wall [5 and overlays the marginal portion of the closure, which may be, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, a pane of glass 20, or as shown in Fig. 3, a guard 2| overlying the screen 22. When the screen 22 is to be mounted in the framed opening, its edge portions are bent to extend downwardly along the inside of the front wall l5 of the groove, beneath the loop of the groove, and thence part way up along the inner wall I l of the groove.

The spline I1 is placed in position by forcing its looped body down into the groove l3, until, in case a screen is to be mounted in the framed opening, the portions of the screen in the groove will be forced down and held securely by the spline in the bottom of the groove, while the guard 21, overlying the screen 22, is clamped down on the screen and is in turn supported from below by the shelf 18 integral with the front wall I5 of the groove 13.

The splines I! may be mitered at their extremities, so that the ends of the splines engaging the stiles may fit with the ends of the splines engaging the rails, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

In cases where the ends of the rails are out at right angles and fit against the adjacent vertical edges of the rails, the grooves of the stiles are extended to connect with the grooves of the rails so that the ends of the splines may meet and fit together.

It is understood that the rails are fitted with grooves similar to that shown in the rails, to receive their splines, and thus secure all four edges of the closure to the corresponding marginal elements.

I claim:

1. In a door or window sash structure, the combination of a frame for the opening to receive a panel to span said opening, which frame is formed of stile and rail members joined at their ends to define said opening, each of said members being provided along its inner edge with a longitudinal groove parallel with said edge, the inner edge surfaces of said members being also provided with an integral relative narrow shelf which extends into said opening but is stepped back from the plane of the adjacent side surface of the frame, a distance substantially the thickness of the panel, and a spline formed by bending up a relative narrow strip of resilient sheet metal to form an open looped body portion arranged to be forced into said groove engaging both sides thereof, the longitudinal edge of said loop frictionally engaging the adjacent side wall of the groove to hold thespline in place and the opposite longitudinal edge portion of said spline being flat and extending inwardly of the opening of the frame to ,overlapand cover the edge portion of the panel, the outer surface of the overlapping portion of the spline lying in the plane of the side surfaces of said stile and rail members of the frame, the back of said loop functioning as a fulcrum to unseat the longitudinal edge 4 of said loop when the spline is being removed from said groove.

2. In a door or window sash structure, the combination of a frame for the opening to receive a panel to span said opening, which frame is formed of stile and rail members joined at their ends to define said opening, each of said members being provided along its inner edge with a longitudinal groove parallel with said edge, said grooves having inwardly diverging walls, the inner edge surfaces of said members being also provided with an integral relative narrow shelf which extends into said opening but is stepped back from the plane of the adjacent side surface of the frame a distance substantially the thickness of the panel, and a spline formed by bending up a relative narrow strip of resilient sheet metal to form an open looped body portion arranged to be forced into said groove engaging both sides thereof, the longitudinal edge of said loop frictionally engaging the adjacent side wall of the groove to hold the spline in place and the opposite longitudinal edge portion of said spline being flat and extending inwardly of the opening of the frame to overlap and cover the edge portion of the panel, the outer surface of the overlapping portion of the spline lying in the plane of the side surfaces of said stile and rail members of the frame, the back of said loop functioning as a fulcrum to unseat the longitudinal edge of said loop when the spline is being removed from said groove.

AUGUSTINE JOHN KIEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of'this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 13,987 Johnson Sept. 21, 1915 954,094 Greene Apr. 5, 1910 992,393 Tyler May 16, 1911 1,000,094 Klemm Aug. 8, 1911 1,040,572 Otterson Oct. 8, 1912 1,178,581 Green Apr. 11, 1916 1,201,338 Orr Oct. 17, 1916 1,223,609 Peters Apr. 24, 1917 1,238,747 Cramer Sept. 4, 1917 1,794,534 Norquist et al. Mar. 3, 1931 2,020,360 Johnson Nov. 12, 1935 2,119,685 Pereau et al June 7, 1938 2,454,975 Pelley Nov. 30, 1948 

